Welcome to the latest electronic newsletter.  If you have any questions or comments regarding the newsletter please e-mail us at news@spelthorne.gov.uk

News  

Council Tax 2010/11 Council Tax bills have recently been sent to residents in Spelthorne.  The new rates can be viewed on the Council Tax page.

Bulletin magazine out now  

Spelthorne Council’s spring Bulletin magazine is out now and includes articles on getting involved with the Council, proposals for an Eco Park in Shepperton, the Surrey Youth Games and local news pages.

Mayor shows support for Ashford Town FC



The Mayor of Spelthorne went along to support Ashford Town FC who played at home against Hastings United last Saturday. After the match the players signed the match ball which will be auctioned in aid of the Mayor’s charities, One to One and Guiding in Spelthorne.  The final score was 3-2.  

Seen in the photo is: back row (left-right) Keith Bristow (Assistant Manager), Billy Jeffreys, Vinnie O'Sullivan, Bob Parker (Chairman), Russell Canderton, Alan Cox (Vice Chairman), Paul Burgess, the Mayor, Jamie England, Alan Constable (Hon.Sec.), Craig Ross, Guy Hollis, Joe McNerney, John Warrington (Committee Member), Neil Cumming (Assistant Manager).

Front Row (left-right): Jones Awuah, Brian Haule, Jermaine McGlashan, Scott Harris, Femi Ilesanmi, Brett Cooper, Warren Harris, Davis Haule.

Photograph supplied by www.chrishattonphotography.com

Easter craft activities - Thursday 1 April April fools! Come along to this jam packed session with an April fools theme. Make and create works of art, tricks and games. The session runs from 10am – 12.30pm on 1 April and is suitable for children aged 5-11. Activity code ART10AF

Eggciting Easter!

Let your imagination run wild and have an eggciting time making and creating art with an Easter theme! The session runs from 1.30-4pm on Thursday 1 April for children aged 5-11. Activity code ART10EE

Call Customer Services on 01784 411499 or e-mail customer.services@spelthorne.gov.uk to reserve your place and request the booking and medical forms.

Food digester sale day - Saturday 17 April 2010

The Council will be selling food digesters on Saturday 17 April at the Council Offices, Knowle Green. Further details of the food digester sale day (Pdf 1.2mb) are available here.  The green cone will be on sale for £14.95 and the green Johanna will be £19.95.  Residents can contact 01784 448550 to pre-order their food digester before Saturday 10 April.

Spring Open Day - free event

The spring open day event is taking place on Saturday 10 April from 10am- 2pm. Make and create works of art with a spring theme! The session is open to children aged 4-11. Children must be accompanied by a parent or carer throughout the session. This activity is supported by the Big Lottery Fund for children’s play and is part of a wider project to provide more activities within Spelthorne. For more information contact Leisure Services on 01784 446433 or e-mail resource.centre@spelthorne.gov.uk

Stanwell Community Warden

As you may have read in the press, it has now been agreed that the Council’s warden for Stanwell will transfer to the new Neighbourhood Team (part of Council’s Streetscene Department) but retain his job title, uniform, vehicle and core duties in Stanwell. The new team comprises five staff allocated to areas across the Borough. The emphasis within the new team will be to improve the street scene and environment including issues regarding refuse collection. The Warden does some of this already but it will be more structured than now and he will work as part of the team rather than on his own. As the structure is new, roles, duties and practices will evolve but the Council remains totally committed to supporting and working with the Stanwell community and believes that the new arrangement will strengthen these aims.

Mayor’s ‘Melodies and Memories’ concert

Come along and sing the old songs and listen to the Staines Lammas Band at the ‘Melodies and Memories’ concert being held in aid of the Mayor’s Charities, One-to-One and Guiding in Spelthorne. The Concert is being held at 3pm on Sunday 28 March at St Peter’s Church, Laleham Road, Staines.

Tickets cost £5 and are available by calling the Mayor’s Secretary on 01784 446275, the Parish Office on 01784 469155 or they can be bought on the door.

Spelthorne Council budget and services

Spelthorne Council is not cutting services as has been incorrectly reported recently in some of the media. It has just undertaken a large-scale and arduous exercise in finding efficiency, procurement and other savings of £1.7m; has levied a 0% increase in Council Tax and is not awarding any annual pay increase to staff nor increasing councillors’ allowances. There will be no cuts in services precisely because of these painstaking efforts.
Council Leader John Packman’s statement (Word 27kb)

Spelthorne Youth Awards 2010 - Where unfound stars can shine!

Do you know a special young person aged between 5 and 19 years who is living or receiving education within Spelthorne and deserves recognition for their achievements? You may wish to nominate them for a Spelthorne Youth Award.

The categories for these awards are:

• outstanding academic achievement;
• personal achievement;
• sports achievement;
• community spirit;
• triumph over adversity;
• unselfishness and kindness and bravery

Due to popular demand, we have also added an extra category this year for outstanding achievement in performing arts.

Anyone can nominate a young person for an award by 1 April 2010.  A nomination form is available on-line or by telephoning Leisure Services on 01784 446433.

The winners will be acknowledged at an awards ceremony during the spring of 2010.

Our garden waste collection scheme is growing

It’s still not too late to sign up for our garden waste collection service. The cost of the service is £45 per year.

What can be placed in the garden waste wheelie bin?

Yes please	No thanks
grass cuttings	soil stones or gravel
hedge trimmings	flower pots
garden prunings	seed trays
leaves	kitchen/food waste
dead plants	wood
branches – no thicker than 7cm (3”)	cardboard, paper, glass, metal
small twigs	pet litter or waste
weeds	plastic bags

To place an order online or for more information call Customer Services on 01784 451499.

Dealing with Stroke

VAIS is inviting people to attend its ‘Dealing with Stroke’ event which is being held from 12pm-2pm (registration at 11.45pm) on 13 April in the Goddard Room at Spelthorne Borough Council.

Guest speakers include:

• Dr. BhaskarMandal MRCP, MD - Consultant Stroke Physician, Lead for Stroke Service at Ashford & St. Peter’s Hospitals, Chair Stroke LIT North Surrey, Clinical Lead for care of elderly service at Ashford & St. Peter’s Hospital, Stroke Service in North Surrey – Past, Present and Future
• Ellen Sheridan, Regional Information Officer (London), Stroke Association, ‘Stroke Awareness’

The event will be followed by a light lunch, with a £2 contribution per head towards costs. To book a place either phone 01784 446358 or e-mail info.vais@spelthorne.gov.uk

If you would like to promote your group at the event, please provide relevant promotional material (newsletters, leaflets, posters) by Friday 9 April 2010.

Young drivers’ film shows dangers of peer pressure

A dramatic short film illustrating the dangers young drivers face when subject to peer pressure goes live on the web this week.

The film, just one minute 20 seconds long, forms the next stage of the Drive SMART initiative, launched last September by Surrey County Council and Surrey Police to tackle anti-social driving. It is also in response to casualty statistics that show that this group are particularly vulnerable.

Targeted at young drivers in Surrey aged between 17 and 24, the film shows how easy it is for a young driver, coerced by his friends, to take unnecessary risks at dangerous speeds on the road – with devastating consequences.  

In a clear challenge to young drivers it asks “Can you stand up to your mates?" and urges them to “Be strong”.

Road safety statistics nationally and locally highlight that younger drivers are over represented in road casualty statistics. In 2008, 27% of all casualties in Surrey and 18% of all fatalities were young people aged between 16 and 24 years old.

The Leader of Surrey County Council, Dr Andrew Povey, said: "Young drivers are particularly vulnerable on the road and putting a film about road safety on the internet is one way of encouraging them to take more care. Their inexperience and exuberance behind the wheel, especially when driving with friends, can have devastating consequences - so our Drive SMART campaign aims to highlight these dangers to encourage young people to drive more carefully."

Surrey Police Assistant Chief Constable, Ian Dyson, added: "We want to cut the number of people killed or seriously injured on Surrey's roads and hope that this film will make young drivers more aware of the dangers of taking unnecessary risks. Surrey Police will prosecute drivers who continue to act irresponsibly and break the law but with our Drive SMART campaign initiatives we want to improve motorists' behaviour so they pose less risk to themselves and other road users."

The film, produced by Manchester agency 90degrees, features four talented young actors familiar to thousands of young people across Surrey – Alex Bambrick, Kate Tidman, Brooke O’Halloran and Jamie McLeod-Ross. The quartet all feature in the video that goes with the award-winning Safe Drive Stay Alivestage show run every year for sixth formers across the county by Surrey Fire & Rescue Service.

The viral marketing campaign will see a link to the film clip, now on YouTube, placed on web sites and forums used by young people, including Facebook and Twitter, as well as partner web sites. People viewing the clip will also be encouraged to pass it on to friends and colleagues who may know young people in the right age category.

It will also be shown live at the Transport for Surrey Conference on Thursday 25 March 25 and at two special performances of Safe Drive Stay Alive at Dorking Halls on Wednesday 28 April 28.

The hard-hitting viral film can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk0SJTn2DcI

For more information please contact Project Manager, Duncan Knox on 0208 541 7443, e-mail duncan.knox@surreycc.gov.uk or Communications Manager, Adrian Creek on 01483 519541, e-mail adrian.creek@surreycc.gov.uk

'My Spelthorne'

My Spelthorne allows you to find out about the services and facilities in our Borough.  Simply set a location and use the My House, My Nearest or My Maps tabs to access a wealth of local information.

Recent planning applications

The provides a list of all the planning applications either validated or decided by us each week - View the planning applications

Job vacancies

Current job vacancies

Events

View the calendar of local events

Calendar of Council Meetings

View the Calendar of Council Meetings

Publications

Borough Bulletin
Rubbish and recycling calendar

Follow us on Twitter

You can now follow us on Twitter, visit http://twitter.com/spelthornebc (external website)

Find us on Facebook

You can now find us on Facebook - visit www.facebook.com (external website) and search for 'Spelthorne Council'.

Roadworks in Spelthorne

Surrey County Council's website provides information on roadworks in Spelthorne.

Useful contacts for those having difficulty in the downturn

Money worries information page
Age Concern (external website) - 0800 009966
Citizens Advice Bureau (external website) - 01784 444220 or 01932 765041
Revenues Team (Council Tax and Business Rates) - 01784 446490
Housing Section - 01784 446380
Housing Benefits - 01784 446374

Partner links

Community web (external website)
DirectGov (external website)
Spelthorne Together
Surrey County Council (external website)
Surrey Alert (external website)
Surrey Police (external website)
Surrey PCT (external website)

Media links

Radio Jackie (external website)
Star FM (external website)
BBC Sussex and Surrey (external website)
Eagle Radio (external website)
Radio Wey (external website)
Staines and Ashford News (external website)